The question of rationalizing the Senegalese political system, raised by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye during his speech on December 31, has continued to haunt the successive regimes at the head of Senegal. Although long on the agenda of political consultations around the electoral process, the idea of rationalizing political parties and reforming their financing, in particular by modifying Law No. 81-17 of May 6, 1981, faces still irreconcilable differences.
In his speech to the Nation, Bassirou Diomaye Faye expressed his desire to bring “more readability, more transparency and more rationalization” within a political system marked today by a proliferation of parties. From four formations under the Senghor regime, the country rose to 45 at the end of Diouf’s mandate, to 188 under Wade, and now reaches 430 under Macky Sall, according to Alioune Badara Diouck of the Alliance of Forces for Progress.
Law No. 81-17, amended in 1989 to prohibit any foreign financing of parties, imposes several obligations, such as the annual declaration of the administration and financial statements of the parties. However, these provisions remain largely unimplemented. The parties do not respect the annual congress schedule and do not transmit their financial statements to the Ministry of the Interior, which compromises their access to public media.
Most new political formations are not oriented towards the conquest of power, but rather serve the personal interests of their leaders. The consultations organized on the eve of each election never made it possible to reach a consensus, blocking any adaptation of the law to current realities, as our colleagues from Sud Quotidien reported.
This lack of political consensus results in an unregulated proliferation of political parties, which continue to emerge despite the legislative framework in place. The persistence of this question, despite hopes for reform, highlights the challenges of political governance in Senegal, reported our colleagues from Sud Quotidien.
Senegal
